Recovery of plastic materials



Filed Nov. 20, 1937 INVEN-ros HENRY L. cox

JACOB D. MATLACK ATTORNEY z .ensci t ancovs'nr orrnss'rrc usrslusns neuryncox. south Mendelssohn.'

Matlack, Ohax-leden, W. Ya.. enligne to Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation, v.acol-pt irationo!NewYork 'v Application November ze, im, serial luc. 115,560

1o calm. (ci. zoe-zl- Thisl invention ls concerned with the recovery can be collected on a screen or .the like, and the I of hegt segmtwev plasti materials in nnely didescending-mixture of non-solvent and solvent vided solid form from solutions or these materiels liquids ness throush this screen to be collected in organic solvents. The invention provides a seperately lfroni the Solid material. The nelil 5 process forprecipitating plastic materials, espedivided solid plastic then can readily be conl-4 5 cially thermoplastic ertmciel resins. from their pletely rrjed from liquids. andthe mixture of solutions in a continuous, simple, economical non-Solvent and Solvent cen be 'Separated into iashionwhereby the solvent is rapidly eliminated its components for reuse. to yield the solid plastic in a state of very mie The new process. can be 'advantageously ap- UNllrzp *s l'A'r-Es. PATENT. oFF-lcs l lo subdivision in which it con bereodily reduced to plied to types of heat sensitive plastic sublo 35 of plastic material.

complete dryness. v A tew of those to which it has been suc- 1n the formation oi various plastic materiels cessfully applied urej cellulose esters. such asthe in solid. dry form from their solutions, it nos been `heetste: vinyl resins. such es 'the' polymers of customary to add the vsolution to a body of non'- vinyl --acetate and other vinyl esters of organic lo solvent liquid, or the converse, and to cause the vpolyvinyl bolides. polystyrene resins. ieSin-S 15 material to precipitate in il'nelyfdivided form by f rom the bolmcrizationof mixtures of employing agitation of one or both bodies oi liq-V dinerent types or -vinili esters. such as' mixtures uid'. The solvent and non -solvent liquids may of vinyl acetate and vvinyl chloride.' and Vinyl then be decanted and the material dried, or acetal resins resulting from 'the condensation 0fao purified by washing 4or other means. This 'proeldebyde With 'polyvinyl lilcohol or hydroliz'ed Q0 Y cedure requires cumbersome equipment and is polyvinyl esters: acrylic 'ncid ester polymers:

rather tedious in operation. Simple evaporation, condensation products of polyiiydi'io lcohols and l of the solvent also mayv be employed, but this Dolybsic acids. Suchee the lllcelilly phthalate may require temperatures which adversely aiiect type resins; and chlorinted rubber oompollndso .25 the plastic, and the residue of plastic is,'of course, In the case of materials lwhich require removal g5 not in ilnely divided form. A variant of this latof impurities which are lSoluble in the precipitatter procedure may take the form of a spray drying liquid the new process is unique-in the degree ing operation in which thesolution of plastic in of removal obtainable, d ue to the neness of the the form of droplets is admitted to an particles.. Known `illethods of precipitation proevaporative atmosphere. This produces nnely duce 'larger particles, and the drying methods so divided materials, -but may require temperatures' effect no removal of non-volatile inllilll'itivesl ,in excess of those to which the material can be Referring .to the drawing, the Solution of plassubjected without deterioration, or which may tic material in an organic .solvent is supplied from cause fusion and agglomeratlon of the particles a tank Il, by way of a line Il', through which it is a. fed under pressure applied -hy a pump l2. The 35 The principal object of this invention is to proline Il.' enters 4a vertical chamber or precipitator vide a process which largely avoids the diiliculties il at a point `near its bottoni,v andthe solution is of the above-mentioned methods for recovering atonlid 01v otherwise broken into Small droplets plastics from solutions, and it makes powble the by means o! a spray nozzle Il or similar suitable 40 recovery of plastic materials in iinely divided device. A non-solvent liquid is fed to the pre-v o l solid form without subjecting them to elevated cipitator Il throughs lille' l5, from which ahum- 'temperatures by' means independent of the volaberof branch lines lia; I Bb, lic and lid convey tility of the solvent. Other objects of the lnit to a plurality of spr ay nozzles I6 which lib.- vention lwill be seen from the description and the erate the non-solvent in the form of 'a voluminous accompanying drawing, in which the method or spray or fog or mist. other devices capable-'of 45 conducting the new process-is illustrated dia.- producing this or an equivalent resultI may, of grammatlcally.l course, replace the nozzles Il. The solution may In brief, the objects of the invention are be atomined near'the top in a `downwardfdirecl achieved and heat sensitive plastic materials are tion but better results are usually produced by eiiiciently and economically recovered from their an' ascending spray. solutions by bringing the solution in the form of The ascending droplets of the solution of plasiine Vdroplets into a conilned space iilled or largetic material come in contact with the mist or fog ly illled with'a mist or tog of a non-solvent for oi non-solvent. and the dissolved material is prethe material. The plastic thus. is thrown out of cipitate'd to fall through the precipitator I3 to a solution in the form of small particles, which collecting screen Il. vBelow the screen Il is proy pump 20. Additional non-solvent may be 811D- f plied through a line 2I controlled by a valve 22. The mixture collected in the tank I8 from time to time, or continuously, may be withdrawn through a line 23 controlled by a valve 2l. The mixture thus removed can be separated by any suitable means for recovery of its individual components'. i

'The plastic material in the form of small particles may be removed continuously .or at intervals from the collecting screen I1. It will be obtained in every case free from excess of liquid, and in excellent condition i'or removal of the, absorbed liquid by a brief and simple drying operation. A conicalbaiile 25 may be provided, if desired, to direct the particles of plastic on to the collecting screen I1. The screen I1 can be in the form of a conveyor, if desired, to

allow the solid plastic particles to be removed continuously and at any desired rate.

'I'he following examples will serve to illustrate the invention:

' Example 1 The precipitator 13 employed provided 21.5 cubic feet of freervapor space. Water, as the non-solvent liquid, was supplied as a fine mist through the nozzles I6, of which thirty-two were employed. 'I'he water was fed at lowest available cooling water temperature, or, in this case, about 25 to 30 C. The gaugeV pressure on the water misting nozzles was about pounds per.

square inch.

The plastic solution consisted of a partial y polyvinyl acetal resin (in which the combined aldehyde was butyraldehyde andthe degree of acetalization was about 66%)l dissolved in methanol. This solution contained 8.2% solids, and its viscosity was 0.85 poise. The resin ,solution was supplied to the spray nozzle I4 at a pressure of 300 to 400 pounds per square inch and a temperature of 25 C. The spray nozzle I4, under these conditions, atomized the resin solution to produce drops of about 0.010 to 0.025 inch in diameter.

lI he droplets of resin solution entering the mist of water were instantly penetrated to precipitate solid particles of resin, whichwere collected on the screen I1. of mesh nickel alloy wire. The water served additionally to wash 'the resineparticles as it passed through the screen I1A vtnfbe collected in the tank I8 in admixture with the methanol.

The resin was removed from tirev screen I'I as a line white powder, which was centrifuged to remove excess liquids, and finally dried at 30 C.

This operation ofthe process produced 10 pounds of dried resin powder per hour.

j Example 2 Following the procedure of Example 1, a vinyl resin resulting fromthe conjoint polymerization In this case the screen was formed anca-rs1,

- The resin was obtained as an exceptionally iine, white powder which required no further treatment prior to fdrying. Approximately 46.5

pounds of dried resin powder were produced each hour of operation.

Example 3` tate in which the resin contained about .87% by weightof vinyl chloride in the polymer. 'I'his solution contained 15% solids and was atomized at a gauge pressure of 200 pounds per square inch. It had a viscosity of 0.65 poise and was supplied at a temperature of 32 C. About 19 pounds of dried resin powder were produced perv hour.

An acetone solution of the vinyl resin just described also was treated using a mixture of water and 'isopropyl alcohol as the non-solvent. This non-solvent liquid contained 91% isopropanol and 9% water by volume. The resin solution contained 18.7% solids and had a viscosity of 0.65 poise. It was atomized at 31 C. at a gauge pressure of 300 to 500 pounds-per square inch. The

dried powdered resin was obtained at the rate of 24 pounds per hour.

Example 4 .The resin solution described in Example 2 was treated as in that example, using a mist of gasoline as the non-solvent. The solution of resin was atomized at a gauge pressure of 200 pounds per square inch. The resin wasprecipitated as very ne white particles which tended to coalesce vwhile Wet with the mixture of solvent andnonsolvent. After drying, the resin was easily broken into a powder.

The process just described was repeated, using di-n-butyl ether as the non-solvent liquid. Similar results were obtained.

Example 5 f Ifolymerized methyl acrylate resin was similarly precipitated and dried. This material also was recovered from an acetone solution of the same solids content, viscosity and temperature las the alkyd resin solution. The non-solvent used was water, and the resin. solution was atomized at a gauge pressure of 400 to 500 pounds per square inch. The product was a' very nne,

white powdered form of the resin.

Emipze 7 An .acetone solution of cellulose acetate containing 56% combined acetic acid was treated as described above, using water as the non-solvent. 'I'he solution contained 5% solids and was fed to the process at a ytemperature of 31 C.

Its viscosity was less than 1 poise, and the atomiz-- pounds per square inch gauge pressure.l

so i The cellulose acetate was recovered as a white, voluminous powder of. small particle size.

Non-solvent liquids other than those namedl may be used in this process, and the non-solvent should be supplied at a rate which will insure rapid penetration and thorough contact of the droplets of plastic solution with the non-solvent.

with the particular solvent under consideration.

'I'he non-solvent can be supplied .to the interiorof the precipitating .device by any convenient means, and the particle size of the droplets of non-solvent has no major eiect on the process. The spraying or distribution of the plastic solution is important, and it is usually preferableto reduce the solution to a very small drop size to insure thorough penetration by the non-solvent. Also, the particle size of. the solid plastic is directly proportional to the drop size of the solution when it comes in contact with the non-solvent mist or spray. Any standard atomizing nozzle, slotted spinning bowl-or similar device can be used to introduce the solution to the process. Preferably, the drop size of the solution is kept below 0.025 inch in diameter, and this is conveniently done by spraying solutions of less than 1 poise viscosity through atomizing nozzles under gauge pressures of at least 100 pounds per square inch. Solutions of higher viscosity can be successfully treated in this process if suitable atomizing equipment is provided.

It is preferred to operate the process at atmospheric temperature, but either higher or lower temperatures can be used if required. r

The process shown above has many advantages in that it requires but a short time for precipitation, uniformly finely divided and purified particles are obtained, recovery of the finely divided solid material is continuous, and the process is economical due to its simplicity, which reduces power and labor costs.

Various modifications of the process and the equipment for its conduct will be apparent, and

lsuch variations are included within the scope of4 the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim: 1. yIn the production -of heat sensitive thermoplastic materials, the step of preparing the material in finely divided solid form which comprises dividing a solution of the material in an organic solvent into fine droplets and' bringing it into contact with a iine spray of a non-solvent material dissolved in an organic -solvent into al conned space containing in suspension fine droplets of a non-solvent for the material which is atleast partially miscible with the organic solvent, and thereafter separating the solid particles of plastic material from the mixture of solvent and non-solvent while maintaining the thermoplastic material at a .temperature below its softening point.

tained at a temperature below its softening point.

spray of a non-solvent for the resin which is `at 5 least partially miscible with the organic solvent, and thereafter separating the nely divided solid resin from the mixture of solvent and non-solvent, said vinyl resin being maintained at a tem perature below its-softening point.

4. Process for obtaining in finely divided solid form vinyl resins made by the conjoint polymerization of a vinyl'halide with a vinyl ester of a lower aliphatic acid, which comprises spraying a solution of said resin in an organic solvent in the presence of a suspension of ne droplets of a nonsolvent for the resin which 'is at least partially miscible with said organic solvent.

5. Process for obtaining partial polyvinyl acetal resins in finely divided solid form, which comprises spraying a solution of .said resin in an organic solvent in the presence of a suspension' of iine droplets of a non-solvent for the resin which is at least partially miscible with said organic solvent.'

6. Processfor obtaining in finely divided solid form vinylU resins made by the conjoint polymerizationTo'f vinyl'chloride with vinyl acetate, which comprises spraying a solution of said resin in an organic solvent in the presence of a suspension of. fine droplets of a non-solvent forthe resin which is at least partially vmiscible with saidvorganic solvent, said resin being maintained at a temperature below its softening point.

7. Process for obtaining in finely divided solid form vinyl resins made by the conjoint polymerizationv of vinyl chloride with vinyl acetate, which comprises lbringing small droplets of a solution of'. said resin in van organic solvent into a mist or fog of water, said resin vbeing maintained at a temperature below its softening point.

8. Process for obtaining in finely divided solid form polyvinyl acetal resins acetalized incompletely with aldehydes, which comprises bringing small droplets of a solution of said resin in 'an organic solvent into a -mist or fog of water.

9.*In the production of vinyl resinsresulting from the conjoint polymerization of vinyl chloride with vinyl acetate containing between and 95% vinyl chloride in the polymer, the step of obtaining said resin in nely divided solid lform from solutions thereof. in acetone which comprises bringing the solution in a state of fine subdivision into the presence of water in the form of fine droplets, and thereafter separating -the finely divided solid resin from the mixture the finely divided solid resin from the mixture of water and methanol,` said resin being main- HENRY L. COX. JACOB D.v MATLACK. 

